Foundation Fighting Blindness joins University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and leading institutions receive funding to fast track whole eye transplantation program

(Image credit: Adobe Stock/Dmitriy)

The Foundation Fighting Blindness this week announced that the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), a division of the US Department of Health and Human Services, has awarded up to $46 million to the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, the Foundation, and 6 other research groups. This funding will support research and innovation in vision-restoring human whole eye transplantation.

Overall, the agency’s commitment is up to $125 million, for a series of groundbreaking investments to develop the first-ever complete eye transplantation procedure and restore vision for the blind and visually impaired.

“What if we could cure blindness? Modern medicine can correct some eye problems, but we really have no way to restore lost vision, which THEA now seeks to change,” said ARPA-H Director Renee Wergrzyn, PhD. “THEA intends to revolutionize the reconnection of nerves to the brain and develop breakthroughs in transplantation, preservation, and neuroscience. ARPA-H’s investment has the potential to repair vision loss for millions of Americans.”

Teams are led by:

• InGel Therapeutics in Allston, Mass. (TA 2), focusing on 3-D printed click-lock gel technology with micro-tunneled scaffolds containing stem cell-derived retinal cells.
• Stanford University (TAs 1, 2, and 3), focusing on donor eye procurement, developing new strategies to promote survival and regeneration of the transplanted cells, and performing transplant surgeries.
• The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (TAs 2 and 3), focusing on developing novel stem cell and bioelectronic technologies to promote nerve regeneration and performing transplant surgeries.
• The University of Miami Bascom Palmer Eye Institute (TA 1), focusing on donor eye procurement and preservation outside the body with its eye-ECMO device.

According to ARPA-H, the teams selected will test and evaluate the best therapies to regenerate cranial nerves, maintain critical structures in the eye (such as the retina and optic nerve after transplant), and prevent postoperative inflammation or rejection. To accomplish eye transplant surgery and healing, THEA will leverage emerging microsurgical techniques, coupled with genetic and cell-based therapies, to preserve or regrow nerves from the eye to the brain. These regenerative solutions could help prevent degenerative blindness and are a critical step towards successful whole eye transplantation to restore vision.

“While there are therapies to slow the progression of vision loss, there are currently none that can bring back a person’s ability to see,” said ARPA-H THEA Program Manager Calvin Roberts, MD. “THEA and our performers intend to address this challenge, by transplanting the whole donor eye, reconnecting the nerves, muscles, and blood vessels to the brain and restoring vision. ARPA-H’s investments may eventually help generate new solutions for other neurological conditions, as well, such as spinal cord injuries.” 

THEA will pursue 3 technical areas (TAs): (1) retrieval of donor eyes and maintenance of the health of donor eyes until transplantation; (2) optic nerve repair and regeneration.

The Foundation has assembled a multidisciplinary team of leading scientists, researchers, and physicians from multiple institutions, all focused on accelerating convergent technologies to fulfill ARPA-H’s goal: to cure blindness within 6 years.

According to a Foundation Fighting Blindness news release, the consortium, led by the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (the prime recipient of the award), includes Johns Hopkins University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Indiana University School of Medicine, the University of Southern California, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and the National Eye Institute.¹

The federal program, known as THEA (Total Human Eye Allotransplantation Advancement), was established by ARPA-H’s Health Science Futures Office to advance a combination of medical, therapeutic, and surgical technologies aimed at making whole eye transplantation a viable cure for blindness caused by ocular diseases or damage.

The Foundation has been pivotal in advancing treatments and cures for blinding diseases, raising more than $954 million to fund cutting-edge research and launching over 45 clinical trials for potential treatments.

In this new initiative, the Foundation will play a strategic coordinating role, ensuring that progress remains aligned with program goals and requirements. Chad Jackson, PhD, the Foundation’s senior director of the Preclinical Translational Research Program, will oversee the 6-year project.¹

Jackson pointed out that while vision-restoring whole eye transplantation holds tremendous potential, there are still significant technical and biological hurdles that must be cleared before it can become a viable clinical reality, most notably the challenge of regenerating nerve cells and re-establishing vision signal connectivity in a grafted optic nerve.

“Our team has assembled sub-groups of experts in their respective fields to best position us to achieve ARPA-H’s mission,” Jackson said. “By working in tandem teams on developing therapies and technologies to overcome current limitations in donor eye preservation, optic nerve regeneration, surgical techniques and post-operation strategies, we’ll accelerate progress and bring whole eye replacement closer to clinical application. I look forward to kicking off the project and collaborating with such a talented and passionate team.”

The program will be led by principal investigator Kia Washington, MD, a clinician, scientist and professor in the department of surgery at the University of Colorado (CU) Anschutz Medical Campus. Washington is leading groundbreaking research at CU in eye transplantation and vision restoration, building on deep research and surgical experience in facial and eye transplantation.

Washington pointed out in a news release the potential of whole eye transplantation is truly revolutionary.

“Despite advancements in facial and eye transplantation, whole eye transplantation has yet to achieve successful vision restoration,’ Washington said. “I’m thrilled to be part of the team working to advance progress toward making human whole eye transplantation as a cure for blindness a reality.”

The primary goal of ARPA-H’s THEA program is to build on recent advancements in medicine, cell therapies, and surgical techniques to regenerate retinal and optic nerve cells and restore their connectivity to the brain, ultimately enabling functional vision. Additional objectives include improving tissue harvest and preservation, optimizing optic nerve reattachment and repair technologies, and advancing surgical strategies, postoperative care, and ocular health assessment tools.¹

“On behalf of the board and the Foundation, I extend my gratitude to ARPA-H and this multi-institutional team for the opportunity to continue our work of advancing the most promising research and technologies to cure blindness,” Karen Petrou, chair of the Foundation Fighting Blindness board, said in the news release. “We are closer than ever to realizing the potential of vision restoration, and as a person impacted by a blinding retinal disease, I look forward to recovery of my vision through breakthroughs achieved in the THEA program.”

Jason Menzo, CEO of the Foundation Fighting Blindness, said the organization is committed to changing what we think is possible for people impacted by vision loss by pursuing research and development programs with the potential to be life changing.

“This project has tremendous potential to solve barriers to seeing through another’s transplanted eyes and revolutionize how we approach and treat blindness,” he concluded. “Furthermore, we anticipate implications of our work will bring a seismic change in medical capabilities to benefit millions beyond blindness and inform future innovations and advancements in medicine.”

Reference

1. Foundation Fighting Blindness. Foundation Fighting Blindness Partners with University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and Other Leading Institutions to Secure Up to $46 Million to Fast Track Whole Eye Transplantation Program. GlobeNewswire News Room. Published December 2, 2024. Accessed December 3, 2024. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/12/02/2990073/0/en/Foundation-Fighting-Blindness-Partners-with-University-of-Colorado-Anschutz-Medical-Campus-and-Other-Leading-Institutions-to-Secure-Up-to-46-Million-to-Fast-Track-Whole-Eye-Transpl.html